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Getting safe water a struggle for many of Venezuela’s poor

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:24:52 GMT

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Everyone knows Franklin Cáceres in his neighborhood on the far east side of Venezuela’s capital. A roadside vendor directs a visitor downhill, past a curve and to the left. A middle school student points to Cáceres’ home and business. There, in a space flattened on the mountain by Cáceres, some meager cinderblock walls and a tin roof protect four 1,000-liter (264-gallon) blue plastic tanks in one corner. There is also a stove and a noisy flock of roosters.“Fran! Fran!” neighbors yell as he walks up and down a winding, dusty road untangling and tugging a seemingly endless hose. The hose, which is more like a network of hoses that measure about a mile in length, has transformed their lives by bringing clean water to their poor district.Water has long been a luxury in the sprawling low-income neighborhoods that surround Caracas. The problem preceded the socialist-led government of the late President Hugo Chavez. But like many other issues under the watch of hi...

War on gangs forges new El Salvador. But the price is steep

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:24:52 GMT

SOYAPANGO, El Salvador (AP) — For the family of 44-year-old Maritza Pacheco, opening a corner shop outside their home four months ago was a small miracle.Pacheco had lived like many in El Salvador’s capital: in constant panic. Warring gangs – MS-13 and Barrio 18 – would send gunfire ringing out over flimsy tin-sheet homes, terrorizing and extorting poor communities like hers.Her family isolated themselves, determined not to get sucked into the lawlessness around them until the gangs began closing in on her teenage son. Early last year, Pacheco paid to have him and a sister smuggled to the U.S.But over the past year, El Salvador has undergone a radical transformation since President Nayib Bukele – the self-described “world’s coolest dictator” – suspended constitutional rights and started an all-out offensive on the gangs. Bukele has imprisoned over 65,000 of the nation’s 6.3 million people, packing thousands inside a “ mega-prison. ” Gang presence has dwindled, and bloodshed ac...

A 5,000-mile seaweed belt is headed toward Florida

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:24:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A 5,000-mile seaweed belt lurking in the Atlantic Ocean is expected in the next few months to wash onto beaches in the Caribbean Sea, South Florida, and the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico.The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt — as the biomass stretching from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico is called — contains scattered patches of seaweed on the open sea, rather than one continuous blob of sargassum. It’s not a new occurrence, but satellite images captured in February showed an earlier start than usual for such a large accumulation in the open ocean.Once it washes ashore, sargassum is a nuisance — a thick, brown algae that carpets beaches, releasing a pungent smell as it decays and ensnares humans and animals who step into it. For hotels and resorts, clearing the stuff off beaches can amount to a round-the-clock operation.Here’s a look at this year’s sargassum seaweed bloom:WHAT IS SARGASSUM? A leafy brown seaweed festooned with what look like berries....

War on gangs forges new El Salvador. But the price is steep.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:24:52 GMT

SOYAPANGO, El Salvador (AP) — With semiautomatic weapons pressed to their chest, a pack of camouflage-clad police officers marches through rows of small brick homes winding up hills on the fringes of El Salvador’s capital. They rap sharply on door after door, pushing into homes with dozing teenagers listening to music or toddlers eating breakfast and watching cartoons. Stepping foot in La Campanera, once one of El Salvador’s bloodiest neighborhoods, would have been unthinkable before the government suspended constitutional rights and started an all-out offensive on the gangs one year ago.Today, police march past skeletons of ransacked homes, abandoned by those fleeing the bloodshed that marked these streets for decades. Officers demand men strip off their shirts so they can examine their bodies for tattoos, and flip through deeds and energy bills, once unpaid under gang rule. Residents scrape together any evidence they can to prove they aren’t members of Barrio 18, the g...

Denver police to add officers at East High School

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:24:52 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas told parents that there would be two armed police officers at East High School for the remainder of the school year.Thomas and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock talked to parents after two faculty members were shot after they found a gun while searching a student. Latest updates: 2 faculty members shot by student at Denver East High School According to Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero, daily searches are part of a safety plan developed for this specific student. Marrero said plans are common across the district and the country.Last year, a decision by the Denver Board of Education went into effect that removed school resource officers from the district's buildings. Thomas said the department has been advocating to reverse that decision. Data Desk: Denver East High School has history of weapons, violence Hancock also said that he has been advocating for public safety in the school buildings.In a statement posted to his T...

Dozens of weapons charges in Denver high schools since 2018

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:24:52 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Weapons charges are not uncommon at Denver's largest high schools.Two adult faculty members at Denver East High School were shot Wednesday morning while searching a student who attended the school. What we know about the Denver East High School shooting suspect According to Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas, the student, who is younger than 18, was being searched as part of a safety plan. A source with connections to the district told FOX31 this safety plan was in effect because the student had previously been expelled from another district for weapons. FOX31 is working to confirm this information with additional sources.Denver Police Department records show 51 weapons charges at the addresses of Denver's 10 largest high schools. These range from simple possession of a prohibited weapon to firing a weapon into an occupied vehicle. Carrying a prohibited weapon is the most common, followed by felony menacing with a weapon. These records began in 2018. Across a...

'It keeps getting closer and closer': Students react to shooting at Denver East High School

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:24:52 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Students are reacting to another shooting at Denver East High School.Two faculty members were shot at Denver East High School on Wednesday morning, Denver Public Schools said. The two victims, who are deans at the school, were transported to local hospitals. Latest updates: 2 faculty members shot by student at Denver East High School FOX31 spoke with a student who reflected on the chaos while she and a group of friends were hanging out outside the school."It's repetitive, it's old, and it's starting to get tiring. It hasn't even been a whole month yet since the thing with Luis, and we're still going through a lot of trauma because of that because we are constantly reminded about that every day and then this happened," said a sophomore student. Data Desk: Denver East High School has history of weapons, violence FOX31 also spoke with two students who recalled past shootings that occurred near the school."It just keeps getting closer and closer, and more people kee...

DeSantis to expand law critics call ‘Don’t Say Gay’ into HS

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:24:52 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The administration of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is moving to forbid classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in all grades, expanding the controversial law critics call “Don’t Say Gay” as the Republican governor continues a focus on cultural issues ahead of his expected presidential run.The proposal, which would not require legislative approval, is scheduled for a vote next month before the state Board of Education and has been put forth by state Education Department, both of which are led by appointees of the governor.The rule change would ban lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity from grades 4 to 12, unless required by existing state standards or as part of reproductive health instruction that students can choose not to take.DeSantis has leaned heavily into cultural divides on his path to an anticipated White House bid, with the surging Republican increasingly pursuing a conservative agenda that targets what he...

Brussels can’t keep easterners from top jobs forever, Estonian PM says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:24:52 GMT

It’s time for Europe’s eastern crew to get a top job. That was the message Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas had for her fellow leaders during an interview with POLITICO ahead of an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels on Thursday. Since Russia began its unyielding campaign to seize Ukraine, countries like Estonia and its Baltic neighbors are being heard — and driving policy — like never before. Now, Kallas stressed, it’s time to also put some of those people in charge. “We have been members of NATO and the European Union for 19 years,” Kallas said from her office in Tallinn, taking a break from her coalition talks to form a new government. Estonia entered both organizations in 2004, joining alongside six other countries that had once been part of the Soviet-era Eastern Bloc.“Do we have … worse people than the old Europeans? Or are we not there yet?” Kallas said. “I think the answer is that, no, actually, we have very good people.”“We should be on the radar...

Cut off by Europe, Putin pins hopes on powering China instead

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:24:52 GMT

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s marathon three-day visit to Moscow was hailed by the Kremlin as the dawn of a new age of “deeper” ties between the two countries, as Russia races to plug gaping holes left in its finances by Western energy sanctions.But while Vladimir Putin insisted a new deal struck during the negotiations on Wednesday will ensure Russia can weather the consequences of its invasion of Ukraine, analysts and European lawmakers say he’s overestimating just how much Beijing can help him balance the books.Prior to the full-blown invasion, Russia’s oil and gas sector accounted for almost half of its federal budget, but embargoes and restrictions imposed by Western countries have since created a multi-billion dollar deficit. With the country’s ever-influential oligarchs estimated to be out of pocket to the tune of 20 percent of their wealth — and industry tycoon Oleg Deripaska warning the state could run out of money as soon as next year — Putin is se...